Miss Universe 1985

Miss Universe 1985
Deborah Carthy
Date15 July 1985
Presenters
Entertainment
VenueJames L. Knight Convention Center, Miami, Florida, United States
BroadcasterCBS (WTVJ)
Entrants79
Placements10
DebutsDominica
Withdrawals
  • Aruba
  • French Guiana
  • Guadeloupe
  • Martinique
  • Namibia
  • South Africa
  • Switzerland
  • Turkey
Returns
  • Bahamas
  • French Polynesia
  • Haiti
  • Senegal
  • Sri Lanka
WinnerDeborah Carthy
Puerto Rico
CongenialityLucy Montinola (Guam)
Best National CostumeSandra Borda (Colombia)
PhotogenicBrigitte Bergman (Holland)

Miss Universe 1985 was the 34th Miss Universe pageant, held at the James L. Knight Convention Center in Miami, Florida, on 15 July 1985. Seventy-nine contestants competed in the pageant. At the conclusion of the event, Deborah Carthy of Puerto Rico was crowned by Yvonne Ryding of Sweden.[1]

Background

Location and date

In October 1984, the owners of the newly expanded West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada showed an interest in hosting the Miss Universe 1985 pageant there.[2] This followed an unsuccessful attempt to host the Miss Universe 1984 pageant in Calgary Alberta the previous year.

Pageant organizers chose to host the pageant in Miami, Florida for the second consecutive year. George Honchar, president of Miss Universe Inc., expressed disappointment at a lack of local support for the event, which cost the city $2 million.[1]

Selection of participants

In April, 1985 the city of Miami requested that the Miss Universe organization insist that South Africa should not send a representative to pageant, due to the threat of demonstrations over her country's Apartheid policy.[3] In mid May the nation announced that they would not send their titleholder, Andrea Steltzer, to the pageant because of fears for her safety.[4] This was the first time since 1975 that the country did not participate in the pageant; they would not return to the event until 1995.[5] Andrea Steltzer (half South African and half German) took part as Miss Germany in the 1989 Miss Universe pageant where she was a semi-finalist.

Results

Miss Universe 1985 participating nations and results

Placements

PlacementContestant
Miss Universe 1985
1st Runner-Up
2nd Runner-Up
  •  Zaire – Benita Murekatete
3rd Runner-Up
  •  Venezuela – Silvia Martínez
4th Runner-Up
  •  Uruguay – Andrea Beatriz López
Top 10

Contestants

References

  1. 1 2 "79 Women Vie For Miss Universe Crown". Associated Press. 1985-07-15.
  2. ↑ "Edmonton's new focus". The Globe and Mail. 1984-10-23. p. M1.
  3. ↑ "Miami Worried About Miss South Africa". The San Francisco Chronicle. Reuters. 1985-04-02.
  4. ↑ "Protest Fears Force Miss South Africa Out Of Miss Universe Pageant". Associated Press. 1985-05-19.
  5. ↑ "South African representatives to Miss Universe". Pageant Almanac. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  6. ↑ Gomez, Shirley (11 August 2025). "Victoria Kjaer crowns Jennifer Ventura as Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2025: What happened to Celinee Santos?" [Victoria Kjaer crowns Jennifer Ventura as Miss Dominican Republic Universe 2025: What happened to Celinee Santos?]. Hola!. Archived from the original on 14 August 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "Page 1". The Press. Christchurch, New Zealand. 22 April 1985. p. 1. Retrieved 31 January 2026 – via Papers Past.
  8. ↑ "El Pasoan is crowned Miss USA: Miss NM is 1st runner-up; Mai Shanley crowns winner". El Paso Times. May 14, 1985. p. 1. Retrieved July 24, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
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